Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Call of Duty 2
It seems as though certain (read: most) video game reviewers have a lot of trouble differentiating between a good game and one they simply find fun. For instance, I thought Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy was one of the most entertaining games from last generation. You could actually pick people up with just the power of your mind! How cool is that? Unfortunately, every other aspect of the game was garbage. Same deal with Dead Rising - really fun, but had many more problems than, um, whatever the opposite of problems is. These may not be good games, but if you're in the mood to go cement surfing or simply want to mow down the undead, you'll at least have fun.
After playing Call of Duty 2 last week, I can only conclude that reviewers were designating their unholy bloodlust for Nazi shootin' as the sole criteria in which the quality of a game was determined. That is pretty much the only way I can justify the inflated scores for this game. I admit that I don't actually like World War II. In my defense, I don't know many able minded beings who can consider themselves a "fan" of the most atrocious war humans have ever been a part of. One thing I do like is a good First Person Shooter. And while CoD2 thrives if you love walking around the snowy tundra of a Russian winter, it certainly fails in the shooting department.
For someone who doesn't like war unless it involves squashing those damn aliens, I'm going to toss out a complaint that may shock you: CoD2 fails because it does not accurately reflect what went on in Europe during those Dark Days. When making a war game, or any other video game for that matter, focus is one of the most important aspects. Burnout is one of the most outstanding racers around because it's an arcade racer built on speed and destruction. It does not throw any boring simulation aspects in there or some weird platform/racing/wrestling hybrid mode. It's just the best darn racing experience around. If Activision strived to make Call of Duty 2 be the best War-themed FPS around, I would be forced to doff my cap. However, this weird mix of realism (setting, weapons and battles) with video game fiction (regenerating health, constipated allies and a super hero main character) make this a forgettable game at best. At worst, it turns into a 1500 word rant.
The game places you in one of the bleakest settings in the history of time, only slightly edged by the even more horrendous battlefields of WWI and the Earth two minutes after the dinosaurs died. Even during the sunniest summer day, Russia is a dank place. But throw some crumbling buildings and angry Germans with guns in there and even walking down the street becomes a chore. Luckily, you are packing some of the least entertaining guns around. No wonder 1940s media wasn't up in arms about children wielding guns. They weren't any fun to shoot! Compared to the finely tuned metal of today, shooting a gun back then was akin to being the unlucky boy chosen to partake in a gynecological exam.
Clearly, if the settings and weaponry are this boring, the game has some reason for it, right? Unfortunately, those are the only tastes of WWII you will actually find. Though you are just one small grunt in a platoon of Russians, your comrades actually depend on you to single-handedly overthrow the invading Germans. More on that annoying AI quirk in a moment, but I would like to hypothesize why you are the one who was chosen to kill every Nazi in the world. Two words: regenerating health. Ever wonder why Hitler turned against Stalin to begin with? Because Stalin was breeding super soldiers, that's why. The lead character of CoD2 can actually take a bullet and still survive. No med packs or tourniquets needed. Just stand still for a moment and feel all your strength return. He's like a communist Wolverine! Or, to throw in a video game reference, Master Chief with a face. Since you already have a bunch of comrades around you, wouldn't it have made more sense to include a medic in the fray? I have no problem with self healing in a sci-fi shooter, but it should stay far away from my WWII games.
And if you think that's a twist on reality you weren't expecting, wait until you see what happens when a German soldier gets shot. They don't need to regenerate health because bullets barely even hurt them. Shoot a German in the knee and watch his leg buckle for a second before he sprints again. Or shoot off his helmet and watch him blink dumbly. Self preservation clearly wasn't stressed in German boot camp. Since soldiers already have the animation to dive on the ground, you would think Activision would include that response in their AI script when their helmet is forcibly removed from their noggin. Instead, they just stand where you shot them, daring you to pull the trigger again. And why shouldn't they? It takes five good shots to the chest to bring down an angry German. It's a shame technology has regressed so much. Whereas shooting a Russian's hand in Goldeneye (released in 1997) caused him to drop his gun, a hand shot in CoD2 just makes the Nazis angry. Welcome to the next generation of gaming.
If the hit detection, enemy AI and regenerating health wasn't annoying enough, the artificial intelligence of my teammates was bad enough to make me scream French obscenities. This is a war game. In war, there are no heroes. You need your comrades to stage an assault with you. In CoD2, your teammates serve as cannon fodder if you're very lucky. Usually, they just do nothing. Oh sure, they may kick away a grenade that lands close to them or even hide behind a fallen desk, but they do not actually do anything productive. And then there are the overwhelming suicidal tendencies that spurt from every orifice of every soldier. Hold a sniper rifle to your eye and watch as your war mates flock to get in your shot. Or find a nice sniper point and mow down a never ending supply of soldiers. Will the fun never end?
I realize I was playing the game on Veteran, the hardest difficulty setting, so a challenge could be expected. But there are ways to make a game difficult while staying true to the source material. At one point, the Russians were trying to defend City Hall from advancing Germans. I was assigned the sniper position and I heroically defended through the first three waves. And then all hell broke lose. Although there were 10 other Russian soldiers in the base with me, no one was doing anything but me. One guy would look out the window occasionally, but he didn't actually fire his gun. A couple stood on the ground level, apparently shooting the advancing troops. Unfortunately, they neither killed the Germans nor informed me that they failed in their task. They just watched the Nazis come up behind me and shoot me in the head. Thanks for the warning guys.
At no point in WWII was one soldier responsible for taking out the entire platoon of the enemy. In CoD2, this ridiculous task is placed on the player at all times. This is not even remotely realistic. Here are a couple ways to keep the game difficult without messing with reality. First, use a medic instead of regenerating health. Second, make your character and everyone else actually be affected by bullets. If you get shot in the leg, after it's wrapped up, you should move slower. Third, remove the ridiculously frequent checkpoints. There is literally a new checkpoint every five minutes. This is because the game is structured in such a way that, if you're playing through for your first time and do not know what to expect, you will die. Activision attempting to appease the player by making sure they do not start far back, but I have a better idea: how about not making the game cheap?
Basically, this game turns into a run-and-gun action game, which is the farthest thing from war I can think of. After you know where the enemies are stationed and where they are coming from, it's actually quite easy to just tear through the streets. To make it even easier and less realistic, throw a smoke grenade. The enemy doesn't ever take a shot when they have smoke in their eyes. You can just walk right up to them and smash them with the butt of your rifle. Just like in real life!
If all the gameplay flaws weren't enough, we have the needless propaganda thrown in there as well. The game clearly differentiates between the good guys and the bad guys as if one sect of trained killers are not accountable for their deeds. The Russians actually yell "Die you fascist!" at oncoming German soldiers. As if the Russians cared about the political beliefs of the people invading their country. I'm sure most people don't read into the message this game is offering, but I found it impossible to ignore. America is currently fighting a war that people are not sure is just. This has been going on before CoD2 even started being developed. The idea of heroes being made on the battlefield, of democracy overcoming all else, and good guys squashing the threat of evil is clearly on display here. Do you think Activision would ever make a game in which America was wrong? Or maybe one that speaks against the ills of war? Or is shooting people just so fun that no one cares about the stories they are being fed?
The fact that this game is rated T is just so laughable. This is a war game without any blood. There is no real pain. There is no suffering. Shouldn't they have depicted German troops freezing in the bitter cold? Or shown thousands and thousands of unarmed Russians marching to their death? Shouldn't the battlefields have been littered with dead bodies on both sides? Shouldn't the Germans have fled eventually as the Russians overwhelmed them with sniper shots from above? Shouldn't this game have reflected the reality of World War II in some way? As it is, this is merely an average first person shooter with a WWII skin thrown on top. It sends a pro war message that heroes are made on the battlefield. It is a game that I did not find fun and did not think was well made. It was offensive and reprehensible. It sickens me that people are enjoying the brutality of WWII with such a banal topping of sugar sprinkled on top.
After playing Call of Duty 2 last week, I can only conclude that reviewers were designating their unholy bloodlust for Nazi shootin' as the sole criteria in which the quality of a game was determined. That is pretty much the only way I can justify the inflated scores for this game. I admit that I don't actually like World War II. In my defense, I don't know many able minded beings who can consider themselves a "fan" of the most atrocious war humans have ever been a part of. One thing I do like is a good First Person Shooter. And while CoD2 thrives if you love walking around the snowy tundra of a Russian winter, it certainly fails in the shooting department.
For someone who doesn't like war unless it involves squashing those damn aliens, I'm going to toss out a complaint that may shock you: CoD2 fails because it does not accurately reflect what went on in Europe during those Dark Days. When making a war game, or any other video game for that matter, focus is one of the most important aspects. Burnout is one of the most outstanding racers around because it's an arcade racer built on speed and destruction. It does not throw any boring simulation aspects in there or some weird platform/racing/wrestling hybrid mode. It's just the best darn racing experience around. If Activision strived to make Call of Duty 2 be the best War-themed FPS around, I would be forced to doff my cap. However, this weird mix of realism (setting, weapons and battles) with video game fiction (regenerating health, constipated allies and a super hero main character) make this a forgettable game at best. At worst, it turns into a 1500 word rant.
The game places you in one of the bleakest settings in the history of time, only slightly edged by the even more horrendous battlefields of WWI and the Earth two minutes after the dinosaurs died. Even during the sunniest summer day, Russia is a dank place. But throw some crumbling buildings and angry Germans with guns in there and even walking down the street becomes a chore. Luckily, you are packing some of the least entertaining guns around. No wonder 1940s media wasn't up in arms about children wielding guns. They weren't any fun to shoot! Compared to the finely tuned metal of today, shooting a gun back then was akin to being the unlucky boy chosen to partake in a gynecological exam.
Clearly, if the settings and weaponry are this boring, the game has some reason for it, right? Unfortunately, those are the only tastes of WWII you will actually find. Though you are just one small grunt in a platoon of Russians, your comrades actually depend on you to single-handedly overthrow the invading Germans. More on that annoying AI quirk in a moment, but I would like to hypothesize why you are the one who was chosen to kill every Nazi in the world. Two words: regenerating health. Ever wonder why Hitler turned against Stalin to begin with? Because Stalin was breeding super soldiers, that's why. The lead character of CoD2 can actually take a bullet and still survive. No med packs or tourniquets needed. Just stand still for a moment and feel all your strength return. He's like a communist Wolverine! Or, to throw in a video game reference, Master Chief with a face. Since you already have a bunch of comrades around you, wouldn't it have made more sense to include a medic in the fray? I have no problem with self healing in a sci-fi shooter, but it should stay far away from my WWII games.
And if you think that's a twist on reality you weren't expecting, wait until you see what happens when a German soldier gets shot. They don't need to regenerate health because bullets barely even hurt them. Shoot a German in the knee and watch his leg buckle for a second before he sprints again. Or shoot off his helmet and watch him blink dumbly. Self preservation clearly wasn't stressed in German boot camp. Since soldiers already have the animation to dive on the ground, you would think Activision would include that response in their AI script when their helmet is forcibly removed from their noggin. Instead, they just stand where you shot them, daring you to pull the trigger again. And why shouldn't they? It takes five good shots to the chest to bring down an angry German. It's a shame technology has regressed so much. Whereas shooting a Russian's hand in Goldeneye (released in 1997) caused him to drop his gun, a hand shot in CoD2 just makes the Nazis angry. Welcome to the next generation of gaming.
If the hit detection, enemy AI and regenerating health wasn't annoying enough, the artificial intelligence of my teammates was bad enough to make me scream French obscenities. This is a war game. In war, there are no heroes. You need your comrades to stage an assault with you. In CoD2, your teammates serve as cannon fodder if you're very lucky. Usually, they just do nothing. Oh sure, they may kick away a grenade that lands close to them or even hide behind a fallen desk, but they do not actually do anything productive. And then there are the overwhelming suicidal tendencies that spurt from every orifice of every soldier. Hold a sniper rifle to your eye and watch as your war mates flock to get in your shot. Or find a nice sniper point and mow down a never ending supply of soldiers. Will the fun never end?
I realize I was playing the game on Veteran, the hardest difficulty setting, so a challenge could be expected. But there are ways to make a game difficult while staying true to the source material. At one point, the Russians were trying to defend City Hall from advancing Germans. I was assigned the sniper position and I heroically defended through the first three waves. And then all hell broke lose. Although there were 10 other Russian soldiers in the base with me, no one was doing anything but me. One guy would look out the window occasionally, but he didn't actually fire his gun. A couple stood on the ground level, apparently shooting the advancing troops. Unfortunately, they neither killed the Germans nor informed me that they failed in their task. They just watched the Nazis come up behind me and shoot me in the head. Thanks for the warning guys.
At no point in WWII was one soldier responsible for taking out the entire platoon of the enemy. In CoD2, this ridiculous task is placed on the player at all times. This is not even remotely realistic. Here are a couple ways to keep the game difficult without messing with reality. First, use a medic instead of regenerating health. Second, make your character and everyone else actually be affected by bullets. If you get shot in the leg, after it's wrapped up, you should move slower. Third, remove the ridiculously frequent checkpoints. There is literally a new checkpoint every five minutes. This is because the game is structured in such a way that, if you're playing through for your first time and do not know what to expect, you will die. Activision attempting to appease the player by making sure they do not start far back, but I have a better idea: how about not making the game cheap?
Basically, this game turns into a run-and-gun action game, which is the farthest thing from war I can think of. After you know where the enemies are stationed and where they are coming from, it's actually quite easy to just tear through the streets. To make it even easier and less realistic, throw a smoke grenade. The enemy doesn't ever take a shot when they have smoke in their eyes. You can just walk right up to them and smash them with the butt of your rifle. Just like in real life!
If all the gameplay flaws weren't enough, we have the needless propaganda thrown in there as well. The game clearly differentiates between the good guys and the bad guys as if one sect of trained killers are not accountable for their deeds. The Russians actually yell "Die you fascist!" at oncoming German soldiers. As if the Russians cared about the political beliefs of the people invading their country. I'm sure most people don't read into the message this game is offering, but I found it impossible to ignore. America is currently fighting a war that people are not sure is just. This has been going on before CoD2 even started being developed. The idea of heroes being made on the battlefield, of democracy overcoming all else, and good guys squashing the threat of evil is clearly on display here. Do you think Activision would ever make a game in which America was wrong? Or maybe one that speaks against the ills of war? Or is shooting people just so fun that no one cares about the stories they are being fed?
The fact that this game is rated T is just so laughable. This is a war game without any blood. There is no real pain. There is no suffering. Shouldn't they have depicted German troops freezing in the bitter cold? Or shown thousands and thousands of unarmed Russians marching to their death? Shouldn't the battlefields have been littered with dead bodies on both sides? Shouldn't the Germans have fled eventually as the Russians overwhelmed them with sniper shots from above? Shouldn't this game have reflected the reality of World War II in some way? As it is, this is merely an average first person shooter with a WWII skin thrown on top. It sends a pro war message that heroes are made on the battlefield. It is a game that I did not find fun and did not think was well made. It was offensive and reprehensible. It sickens me that people are enjoying the brutality of WWII with such a banal topping of sugar sprinkled on top.
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